Discover the best tourist attractions of western Ukraine with Maria Zawaski! Maria is a freelance journalist, born on the West of Ukraine, got married to Canada. "Now, when I live abroad, I recommend to all my foreign friends to visit western part of my home country Ukraine. Why the western one - it is because I used to live there, so I am more familiar with that part of the country and I can tell lots of stories about the culture, lifestyle and traditions of Ukrainian West," Maria says

Olya's Ukraine

This is my best friend Olya Chorna-Zachmeyer (on a picture above). She is originally from West of Ukraine and she moved to US because she married an amazing American guy Jim. I very glad that my best friend finally found her personal happiness and that I was a part of this story. Now Olya is discovering new country, learning new language and making new friends. In few words, she is doing better and better in her transition to a new life. But! She is still horribly homesick, because she loves her homecountry Ukraine so much! Olya is a journalist and she still working for Ukrainian media from USA. She hopes one day to work for Ukrainian-American media – Olya likes journalism. Also, she has two more diplomas: teacher and lawyer. In Ukraine, before her journalist’s career, Olya was working in preschool with little kids. She adore kids, she is “people person” at all, she enjoys to interact with people, she is more about live communication between persons than through some kind of device, like computers etc. Well, with one kind of modern device Olya is dealing just beautifully: with a camera. My best friend got very sharp eye for seeing things. Before Olya moved to USA, I knew how good she is in writing (she also a poet and a short stories writer), but now I have discovered for myself a new Olya: a photographer! A brilliant photographer, I would say, if to judge from her newest pictures. So, here is Olya’s Ukraine, her (and mine, by the way!) native country, our beloved country and the way Olya sees it through a camera lens.

old styled Ukrainian clay pitchers on a fence (old fashioned fence as well);

Lviv Opera House;

Greek-Catholic Cathedral in Ternopil;

flowers in Ternopil (Olya just loves different plants and flowers (especially flowers!) – to grow flowers, to enjoy flowers, to make life nicer with flowers and, of course, to take pictures of flowers :) ;

And finally, a picture which are among my favorite ones Olya’s photographs, and, as I know, one of her favorites as well:

a stroller in colors of Ukrainian flag.

That’s how Olya has described this picture herself: “Here is sleeping (or maybe not) a future of Ukraine. Let we all take a good care about him (or her!)”

Another photo – of beautiful Ukrainian girls-drummers – Olya took at the city festival in Ternopil. I like this picture’s emotions –cheerful, clear, optimistic, in other words, all kind of positive emotions that girls can feel in their charming young age, and Olya’s camera and Olya’s talent to photography caught those emotions perfectly:

What else can I say here, if this is a classic case when onemy best friend’s picture can say more than a thousand words? (Although, as I said above, Olya is very good with words as well – she is a good journalist and a writer).

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You don’t need visa for travel to Ukraine

If you are citizen of USA, Canada, European Union, Switzerland or Liechtenstein, you don’t need a TOURIST visa for travel to Ukraine. Decree about it was signed in 2005. Tourist visa to Ukraine means that you are going to stay in Ukraine not more than 90 days. So for your short term stay in Ukraine (less than 90 days) you just need to have a travel passport and to buy a ticket, that’s it.
P.S. The same rules work for the citizens of Japan, Andorra, Vatican, Iceland, Monaco, Norway and San Marino. People of these countries don’t need a tourist visa to Ukraine, too.